Uttarajjhayana 27

There was an elder, a gaṇadhara, Garga, a learned sage; / accustomed to the office of a gaṇin, he restored tranquility.

For one carrying a load in a draught-vehicle, a wilderness is crossed; / for one carrying [the burden] in spiritual application, the cycle of rebirth is crossed.

He who yokes an untrained, vicious beast is tormented while struggling; / he experiences disquiet, and it even crushes him with the goad.

One bites its tail, one constantly kicks; / one breaks the yoke-pin, one sets off on the wrong road.

One falls on its side, settles down, and lies down; / it leaps up and breaks loose—a rogue, behaving like a young cow.

A deceitful one falls on its head; an angry one goes in the opposite direction; / it stands still, pretending to be exhausted, and then rushes forward with speed.

A wanton one snaps the tether; an unruly one breaks the yoke; / and pricking up its ears, casting off [the yoke], it bolts.

Just as those yoke-beasts are vicious, so indeed are bad disciples; / when yoked to the vehicle of Dharma, weak in resolve, they break down.

Here one is proud of supernatural power, another is proud of tasty food; / one is proud of pleasant comforts, another is irritable for a very long time.

One is lazy in begging alms; another is fearful of disrespect and arrogant; / and when one is instructed with reasons and arguments,

he too, prone to interrupting, only produces fault; / he continually opposes that word of the ācāryas:

“She does not know me, nor indeed will she give to me; / I think she must have gone out; let another virtuous mendicant go there!”

When sent on errands, they evade; they wander around on all sides; / regarding it as forced royal labor, they make a frown on their faces.

Though taught, received with care, and nourished with food and drink, / like geese whose wings have grown, they depart in every direction.

Then the charioteer reflects, having met with vicious beasts: / “What is the use to me of wicked disciples? My own soul is suffering decline.

Just as my disciples are, such are pack-donkeys;” / having abandoned the pack-donkeys, he firmly took up austerity.

Gentle, endowed with humility, profound, well-collected, / the great-souled one wanders the earth, having his self grounded in moral conduct. — Thus I speak.